I may be way wrong on this observation, but I’ve been detecting a growing penchant for micro versions of stuff.
An obvious example is a Tweet. I think of it as a kind of micro blog limited to 120 characters. That’s characters, not words. Is it possible to write anything meaningful in such a constrained environment? Well, it would seem yes. Twitter is meaningful to millions of people around the world in all nations and all races, judging by so many little Tweets whizzing around the planet. A Twitterer can knock off a bit of marketing, wisdom, make a date and even complain about the date afterward, all in the same time it takes to send an sms. Which is actuallly another bit of tiny writing.
I experimented with a writers’ website recently where one of the rules was that all submissions of stories could only contain 1020 characters. 1020? For one thing, where did that number come from? Do you know how hard it is to write 1020 crummy little letters that develop character/s, scene, conflict, plot, with a beginning, middle and end?
Probably as hard as putting on a whole slide show in just six minutes and 40 seconds. This is the re-incarnation of the old slide show nights, called Pecha Kucha (read chit-chat), invented in Japan. Naturally! Presenters have 20 sec. per 20 slides to talk about their subject matter – architecture, design, poetry, burlesque dancing. The assorted “creatives” may all be of interest to their audience, or maybe just one or two of them, but there’s very little opportunity to be bored with such tiny timings.
Speaking of which, I could mention tapas, the Spanish appetisers, not the Sanskrit term, and, of course, degustation, or ultra-extreme calorie restriciton dieting but it would just make me hungry.
The yoga equivalent of this phenomenon is Yoga Lite or Yoga Express, the 50 min. class that you can fit in on your lunch break. In California, I sampled a version of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga that was distilled down to a 1 hr. session. Nevertheless, I’m sure I sweated 2 hrs. worth.
One thing you can always count on is an equal and opposite movement – hot’n’sweaty vs. restorative yoga, fast food vs. the slow cooking movement.
If you’d like to tell me about any ways you notice things shrinking, you can Tweet me on yogaeve 😉